“Ah…. Oh, I’ve forgotten that I was about to contact the Duke. It’s good that the Duke came to meet me in person.”
Count Schlermann raised the corners of his mouth, as if a good opportunity just arose which he could use to kick us away.
“Bring him inside.”
“Understood.”
After the butler bowed politely and left, the Count raised his shoulders proudly as he declared.
“Well, since I have to entertain the guest right now, please finish your job as quickly as possible and leave.”
“…Understood.”
I nodded at Sir Sein before getting up from my seat.
‘Come to think of it, I was panicking about the security for no reason. It wasn’t necessary anyway.’
Heilbroner, The Phantom Thief, would have nevertheless succeeded in his crime, and I wouldn’t have caught him because it wasn’t what I had planned either.
Even so, I couldn’t abandon my work to the point where people around me would start seeing it as slacking off. However, that didn’t mean there was a reason for which I would have to be worried about an uncooperative nobleman.
As the thought crossed my mind, I felt a bit better.
However, there was still a problem.
‘Is there a way to get out of here without running into Ludger?’
I didn’t want to get caught in a face-to-face encounter with him.
However, my small hope was quickly shattered. Even before Sir Sein and I could get up and leave, the door to the reception room opened and Ludger entered.
“Oh, please come on in, Your Highness.”
Perhaps Count Schlermann was immensely grateful to see the new guest who would chase away the uninvited guests, he greeted and welcomed Ludger with an exaggerated gesture and spreaded his arms.
“Good morning, Count Schlermann.”
“Oh, I was caught up in a complicated situation, so I apologize for contacting the Duke late. Your Highness had to come here because of my negligence.”
“It doesn’t matter, however…”
Ludger’s eyes soon focused on me with his words trailing off.
“It’s been a day since we last met, Captain Clara.”
“…Greetings, Young Duke.”
Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t pretend not to know him, so I had no choice but to greet him politely. He greeted me back with a curt nod before asking the Count.
“Since Captain Clara is here, I assume Count Schlermann’s ‘complicated situation’ has something to do with Heilbroner?”
“Oh! Your Highness is aware of this?”
“Yes, I happened to hear a related story yesterday.”
“Ahem, yes. But I have absolutely no idea….”
“I see. Has Captain Clara finished her investigation?”
At those words, Count Schlermann made a face as if he had been stung by a bee.
“Ah, that… It’s almost at the end.”
“Is that true, Sir Clara?”
“Yes, the Count has spoken of having no idea about the matter. That is why I asked permission from the Count to look around the townhouse to make a security plan.”
“I see. Commander Geloic has already instructed me firmly, therefore, I will surely actively assist Captain if there is anything I can do to help with Heilbroner.”
“…Thank you.”
Not wanting to sound as if I was being ungrateful, I answered somewhat soullessly. However, I couldn’t understand why he was offering me medicine after beating me up?
[T/N: ‘Offering medicine after beating up’ is a proverb which means, consoling someone after insulting/messing with them.]
“Then, Count Schlermann, we will check the outside as you’ve said.”
“Ah, ahem! Please do that.”
Upon hearing those words, Ludger tilted his head slightly as he asked.
“Have you finished checking the inside?”
“…Ah, that.”
Sir Sein, who had been silent up till now and watching everything unfolding silently suddenly quickly spoke up from behind.
“The Count has rejected our offer to look inside the house since it would be uncomfortable to him if we roam carelessly inside his house… This is why we thought of checking the exterior according to the Count’s words.”
‘I forgot that this guy can also get overly absorbed in his work when he’s not slacking off.’
“…Is that true?”
Ludger gave Count Schlermann a sharp look.
He had just publicly declared in front of the Count that he would ‘actively help in the Heilbroner’s case.’
In such a situation, the Count could not help but feel nervous when the truth of his uncooperative behaviour was revealed.
“Well, there’s nothing special in my townhouse!”
“It is not for Count Schlermann’s personal benefit for which the knights are trying to arrest Heilbroner. As a conscientious imperial noble, shouldn’t you set an example of being a generous person and cooperate in the matter?”
“….”
Albeit unwillingly, the Count nodded his head with a small grunt. Seeing his cooperative attitude, Ludger also nodded in satisfaction before instructing.
“Then, start the indoor investigation right away.”
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
Sir Sein smiled and held onto his notepad tightly. I, too, bowed my head to express my gratitude and tried to leave the place with him. However, Ludger’s voice stopped me before I could leave the threshold.
“One subordinate knight should be enough for the indoor investigation. Captain Clara, would you like to investigate the outdoors with me while having a quick chat?”
‘Why on earth?!’
Count Schlermann, who had been forgotten beside, grumbled as the guest who came to meet him suddenly started instructing him and offered to talk to me as if the roles had been reversed.
“Your Highness… Then the matter…”
“Ah, the Count seems to be occupied with the Heilbronner for the time being, so I will postpone the date of our meeting to next week.”
“I, is that so?”
“Yes. That’s all.”
Ludger nodded at me, indicating to me to follow him with his usual arrogant attitude, typical behaviour of a high-ranking nobleman. He didn’t even bother to care if I was willing or not. His straightforward attitude just delivered the order, which was to follow him.
Suppressing the urge to sigh, I instructed Sir Sein.
“…Sir Sein, then please go ahead. Check the overall structure and brief me later.”
“I will do so.”
Sir Sein glanced at Ludger with a puzzled look, but bowed his head earnestly and quickly left to investigate the interior structure.
***
‘Somewhat… It does seem like he’s here to help… but why?’
I followed Ludger into the garden as I mulled over the mystery that couldn’t be solved with my own interpretation.
Wouldn’t it be better for him, for Heilbronner, to have a situation where not only the higher-ups but also the victims were unwilling to cooperate with the knights?
Did I remember it wrong? Perhaps Duke Ludger Kassen was not the real Phantom Thief Heilbronn?
‘No, in the first place, there is no other Duke with that family name, except him in this country.’
Even if I remember the original name of the villain wrong, I couldn’t have gotten the wrong person and confused him with someone else. Moreover, doesn’t that heavenly appearance of him screams of being the villain and the sub-male protagonist of this novel world?
The chilly breeze of late winter, that indicated the far approaching Spring, gently brushed past Ludger.
His beautiful silver hair fluttered around, reflecting the sunlight like silver, and his heavenly face, which seemed to have been carefully sculpted by the Creator, appeared ethereal under the warm morning light.
“It seems Captain Clara has a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders.”
My thoughts, which had been scattered around, soon gathered at his soft, almost whispery voice.
“This is the most significant case that has been given to our knights ever… I can’t brush aside the great sense of responsibility.”
Ludger’s words, which had been uttered softly, seemed to refer to the shabby reality of the investigation team being handled by only two knights. Or perhaps he wanted to indicate the surrounding circumstances where the victims were not properly cooperating… The case couldn’t be solved without their cooperation no matter how many times I said, ‘Yes, I will do my best’.
I had also told my superior about my grievances of not having enough manpower straight away. However, it only felt like hitting my foot. No matter how many times I do that, I would only be spitting in my own face.
What was I supposed to answer in this situation, when the other person was Heilbronner himself?
“It seems that Commander Geloic has high expectations for Captain.”
‘Isn’t that because he didn’t want to waste his time dealing with this mess….’
“This case has been transferred to you suddenly, so I couldn’t help but be curious, does Captain have any information about Heilbronner?”
At the suddenly asked question, I was momentarily taken aback.
‘So this was his original purpose….’
It was extremely puzzling to me when he suddenly called me aside to have a chat, but it seemed like he was just pretending to assist while trying to understand the enemy (?)
“Well…. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to read the transferred materials in detail, so I only know the superficial contents that were in the newspaper articles.”
“I see.”
Quickly scanning the exterior structure of the townhouse with my eyes, as if it was the most important job of my life, I focused all my senses on Ludger’s reaction.
Was he satisfied with my answer? He had confirmed with his eyes that our knights’ squad was so incompetent that it was impossible for him to get caught by us.
However, the words that came out of Ludger’s mouth were completely unexpected.
“There will be a meeting between the higher ranking aristocrats soon about whether additional support is needed regarding the Heilbronner case.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. What they probably want to check is whether the subordinate knights of Captain are worth that much investment.”
“….”
“As one of the parties involved in that discussion… I also have some authority.”
His forest-green eyes turned to me with an unknown emotion.
“That’s why I was curious. How much does Captain know about Heilbronner, and what kind of contrivance have you made to catch him in the future?”
“….”
Excluding the fact that Ludger’s true identity was Heilbronner, his statement seemed like a very important turning point for our knights.
If we appealed well, it would be an opportunity to secure a budget or additional personnel for our knights’ faction.
However, I couldn’t just accept those words.
My original goal was to keep as low as possible without catching Heilbronner, and then transfer the Heilbronner case back to the Diamond Knights like in the original.
It was reasonable for the caption of an incompetent knight faction to be quiet on the matter….
‘I’m angry.’
The work that was suddenly dropped on our shoulders, who had already been tackling a lot of responsibilities, was nothing but a burden. Moreover, the mastermind himself sent a warning letter less than a day after the transfer.
To make matters worse, the person, who was responsible for the chaos, came and started poking around in my business.
‘Even if we can’t catch Heilbroner, we need more personnel! And budget!’
Were they truly trying to test us, because I showed my earnestness?
Thinking that, I spoke frankly, without being pretentious.
“If my answer pleases you, Young Duke, does that mean you’ll put effort into adding extra manpower or budget in our knights’ squad?”
“…That’s right.”
Ludger’s eyes widened, perhaps surprised that I had been so passive. But a smile soon appeared on his face as if this is what he expected.
“Then, I’ll put my trust in your honor, Young Duke.”
Since I mentioned the honor of his nobility, surely he wouldn’t step back on his promise.
I concisely stated the
conclusion first as I stared straight into his eyes.
“I suspect that Phantom Thief Heilbronner is an aristocrat.”
T/N: Hello readers! I’ve recently opened a new Kofi account. So if you like my work, consider supporting me on Kofi.
